USCCB Publishes Findings, Recommendations after Mission to Haiti and Haitians in Other Caribbean Nations

September 27, 2010

WASHINGTON (September 27, 2010)—Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami, head of
the U.S. bishops Haiti Advisory Group, introduced September 27, the report
“The Displaced of Haiti: Long-Term Challenges and Needed Solutions” on
the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Mission to Haiti, the
Dominican Republic, and the Bahamas.

“As we saw from the storms that hit Port-Au-Prince over the weekend,
Haiti is still in a fragile state,” Archbishop Wenski said. “Nearly nine months
after the earthquake, 1.3 million persons remain homeless, living in tent camps,
and clean-up and reconstruction efforts proceed at a very slow pace. Despite the
outpouring of support from the international community in the aftermath of the
disaster, attention to the long-term recovery of Haiti has begun to lag. Full
assistance to help the country rebuild has yet to be delivered, and displaced
Haitians, particularly vulnerable children, remain in dangerous situations.”

The U.S. bishops’ delegation found the plea of Haitian children especially
troublesome.

“While there are some innovative and promising child protective initiatives,
there is no comprehensive approach to prevent family separation, smuggling and
trafficking across the border, and support safe return and reintegration and
durable solutions for children,” said Todd Scribner, USCCB Migration and Refugee
Services education coordinator.

Thousands of Haitian children live in hundreds of “orphanages” or “child-care
centers” in and around Port-au-Prince. Some lost their parents; in many other
cases, parents who cannot care for their children will often leave them there.
Children in Haiti are also vulnerable to exploitation, particularly to the
restavek system, a practice in which a child is sent to work
for another family with the hope that the child will have access to an
education, or at least food and shelter. Instead, the child often finds a life
of domestic servitude and slave-like conditions. There also is evidence that
Haitian children are being trafficked into the Dominican Republic to work in
agriculture, beg on the streets, or perform domestic work, yet little is being
done to apprehend and prosecute traffickers.

Other USCCB findings include:

Recovery and reconstruction efforts are proceeding slowly, leaving Haiti’s
displaced, both inside the country and outside, at grave risk;

After an initial generous response, nations in the region, including the
United States, are beginning to pull back the welcome mat for Haitians displaced
because of the earthquake;

Haitian children remain in danger, subject to difficult living conditions,
domestic servitude, and human trafficking;

Haitian families are divided and policies pursued both by Haiti and
surrounding nations, including the United States, have not been designed to
reunite them; and

Interdiction and deportation policies toward Haitians in the region continue
or have resumed, despite the fragile state of the recovery effort in Haiti.

The U.S. Bishops’ delegation also made the following
recommendations:

The United States and other nations must provide reconstruction funds in a
timely manner and assist the Haitian government in rebuilding the country,
including a plan for re-location or return of the displaced to homes;

Family tracing efforts for orphans must be increased and best interest
determinations for Haitian orphans in Haiti and the Dominican Republic should be
introduced;

The United States should liberalize immigration policies toward Haitians,
including the reunification of the families of medical evacuees, a
re-designation of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians who arrived
after January 12, 2010, and humanitarian parole for Haitian family members who
have been approved for a U.S. visa but await a priority date;

Efforts should be increased to protect children and women along the
Haiti-Dominican Republic border to minimize the incidence of human trafficking;
and

U.S. interdiction policies toward Haitians should include proactive asylum
screening; the United States should urge the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas
to cease deportations of Haitians until the recovery and reconstruction of Haiti
progresses and new homes are built or identified.

Archbishop Wenski and other members of the delegation, which included Bishop
Nicholas DiMarzio of Brooklyn, Maria Odom, executive director of CLINIC
(Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc.), Mary DeLorey, strategic issues
advisor for Catholic Relief Services, and staff from the USCCB offices of
Migration and Refugees Services and International Justice and Peace, made a plea
for the international community not to forget Haiti.

“The United States and the international community must re-focus their
attention on Haiti to help ensure that the Haitian people maintain hope and that
the situation in Haiti does not deteriorate,” the archbishop said. “This
includes ensuring that needed recovery and reconstruction funds are delivered
and used properly; that civil society is included in planning efforts, and,
importantly, that Haitian families are reunited and vulnerable Haitians, such as
children, receive protection.”

He added that “The United States must work with [Haiti’s] neighboring
countries, such as the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas” and “must revisit
U.S. migration policies, so that Haitians are not returned to Haiti prematurely
and that families are kept together.”

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